Larkham out for three

[Burgs]

Larkham out for three

Sportal

Brumbies flyhalf Stephen Larkham is expected to be out of action for three weeks after being cleared of a fracture in his upper chest on Monday.

Larkham suffered a subluxed sternoclavicular joint during the Brumbies' 10-11 loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday night.

"I got tackled by Tana (Umaga), my shoulder was down and it got jammed," he said. "It wasn't particularly painful but I knew that something was wrong straight away."

"I'm relieved that the injury's not as serious as it could be. The challenge now is to do everything that I can to get back as quickly as possible. The boys have got two important, tough matches at home and my focus is to make a positive contribution to the side when I get back."

Larkham said he would set his sights on making his comeback against the Sharks in Durban on March 24.

Brumbies doctor Warren McDonald said Larkham should regain full range of motion as the injury settles down.

"We'll be cautious and see how the ligaments heal and keep him out of contact to avoid any direct blows or unnecessary compressionm" McDonald said.

"We'll be monitoring Steve's recovery but at this stage we expect it to be a three-week injury."

The news comes days after Brumbies vice-captain Al Campbell was ruled out for 8-10 weeks after sustaining a stress fracture in his foot.

[Sagerian]

I heard 2 this morning which is slightly better news.

[shasta]

I heard 2 this morning which is slightly better news.

Yes but with his injury record I think it's even more ridiculous for Knuckles to want Gits to play at Half.

The sooner Jimmy Hilgendorf and Lachlan Mackay get more game time the better too. They may need fit experienced Fly-Halfs later in the year if Beale and Barnes don't measure up.

[Use The Force]

Bloody hell I feel for Larkham. Hope he remains injury free after this for the WC.

I think Kurtley Beale looks the goods, but he is still young and will probably be coached out of his natural game which is a shame.

[Sagerian]

He's got a loooooooong way to go yet, his defense is still very ordinary at best and he lets the defense come to him a lot.

He'll get there I think.